Finally, most every plant that needs to come out of the greenhouse for warm weather is on the patio or under the Douglas fir tree. During the process of cleaning up the plants and potting some of them on they mostly end up looking pretty tattered or small. I wanted to get a “before” photo of them so when they grow and reach their summer potential we can really see the contrast. Also, I need to convince myself that my cruel pruning was for the plants’ own good.

We should have some interesting flowers and foliage from all these pots–plants like Monarda citriodora, Setcreasea pallida, five kinds of begonias, and more.

There are far too many Rhododendron hybrids out there for me to easily figure out which unlabeled varieties have ended up in my yard. I consider these shrubs family favorites because my parents bought a house in Kent, Washington that had many different varieties planted all around. My job was to snap off the green seed pods from dozens of giant shrubs–it was a big, sticky, messy job! Certainly it is a testament to the beauty of these plants that after such torture in my youth, I still love them.

We have two good-sized purple rhodies planted under/near the picture window in the living room. I think the variety might be Purple Splendor, but so many of them look alike. It is a pleasing, rich tone, but not heavy and dark like some of the purple clones. Also on the front of the house in front of the bedroom window is a large-flowered pink clone. We also have three rhodies in the woodland garden. The neighbors have a large shrub on our fenceline, as well, so we get to enjoy those flowers from branches that fine there way on our side.

Most experts now agree that deadheading isn’t worth the time and trouble! Is it possible my parents knew that and sent me out there, anyway, just to keep me busy?

My 2020 plans for these plants is to keep them watered, as needed, and prune them right after flowering to hopefully keep them contained a bit, but still blooming big next spring.

Recently, I discovered this plant is native to Washington State, which is great. The plant I have is from sister Cate and it has lived here in north Seattle for five or six years. This is a very stylish plant, with fantastic form and color. And this year, for the first time, it is blooming for us.

For 2020, I plan to take some cuttings of this plant so I can have more of them. I may set some out into the memory garden and the native plant garden, as well. This plant takes almost no care–just water during the summer when we water everything else.

Another favorite David Austin rose (but what David Austin rose isn’t a favorite?), this beauty appears more yellowish in the shady nook in which it has found itself than the orangey-gold as portrayed in the Austin catalog. Regardless, it is fantastic and photogenic.

Like the other struggling Austin roses in the orchard garden, I will feed and weed this plant in 2020 and work to propagate it so that I can have its progeny in a sunnier spot. Failing that, I may move the plants themselves late next winter to the memory garden.

A fantastic David Austin hybrid, the flowers of this rose provide an extravagant, old-fashioned feeling and sweet smell. Like all my Austin roses, this one doesn’t get the sun it needs. It grows floppy and sad, but still blooms, thankfully.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to keep it watered and fed, and try to get some cuttings from it in the summer so I can add one of these to the memory garden.

When I joined the Pacific Bulb Society about seven years ago, I ordered a bunch of seeds from their seed exchange. I joined an Iris group and did the same with them. I had several iris plants make it to adulthood, but this is the only one still alive and thriving. Unfortunately, this plant has ended up in semi-shade and it isn’t blooming as robustly as I’d like, but it still gets flowers and puts on a show.

The flowers are fantastic in their season, but that season is maddeningly short. I might get three weeks of color, if I’m lucky. The plants don’t add much to the garden after that, so I try to grow other scene stealers that bloom a bit later nearby to distract from the plain iris leaves.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to divide it and move a division or two the memory garden where it can get some sun and maybe bloom more prolifically. My next iris seed starting efforts will be to grow some native Seattle iris species.

The memory garden features two strains of Lupinus polyphyllus, the Russell strain started from seed in 2018 and one called Tutti Frutti started in 2019 that is blooming this year for the first time. We are lucky to be in the Pacific Northwest where lupins really shine. The plants are beautiful from the time they leaf out (who can ignore the beauty of raindrops on lupin leaves?) in spring through their flowering period. It is after the flowers fade that lupins become a challenge because their subsequent deterioration is very public and horrifically dramatic. They get powdery mildew and the leaves wither away but hang on just enough to make every lupin grower feel guilty and incompetent. I do my best to clip them down as soon as I think it is safe to do so and not harm the plants. Another approach is to trim them a bit and grow plants nearby that can overgrow the failing lupins. The seed pods are attractive and it would be great to enjoy them longer, but they get mired in the mess that is the rest of the plant and I usually give them the chop.

It seems unfair to think about their summer weakness when their spring glory is…glorious.

Another aspect of these flowers is the scent. The purple one above has a spicy fragrance. Others are more sweet, or honey-like.

My 2020 plans for these plants are to feed and water them as needed to keep them growing well. I am growing some native Lupinus bicolor that I will plant around the native plant garden and potentially the memory garden, as well, to help supplement the hybrids. Bees absolutely love these flowers. See the video below:

This gorgeous purple rose, bred by David Austin, blooms reliably every spring despite being shaded and crowded. It only gives me a few flowers, but they are unusual and exquisite!

My 2020 plans for this plant are to try to keep the bindweed off of it and to try to clear away some of the plants that are shading it. I’ll also feed and prune it to keep it healthy and hope for more spicy purple blooms in the coming years.

Chaenorhinum is a species I’ve been drawn to for many years, but I didn’t try to grow them until 2018 when I ordered these seeds for the memory garden. I ended up with six or seven seedlings that I planted out on the street side of the garden. The seedlings were precocious and bloomed quickly with just a few flowers, but in 2019 they really put on a show. The plants and flowers are charming–diminutive, but showy when they get going. In 2020, only three plants appear to remain. They are blooming, but not with the gusto they showed last year.

I’ll keep working to get better photos–they are so tiny, my phone doesn’t want to focus on them!

For 2020, I’ll try to keep the weeds away and baby these babies a bit to maybe help them grow stronger.

Known as Santa Barbara daisies, these are amazing flowering machines. They start easily from seed, as well, which makes them a perfect filler or mass planting in a perennial border. I started a packet of seeds in 2018 for the memory garden. They bloomed a bit late that year but put on a good show, and they continue to get showier and showier over time. I think they like the dry, sunny spot in the former hell strip that is the memory garden.

My 2020 plans for these plants are to keep them fed a bit and weeded and just enjoy their exuberance.